24 Movie is a Go!

In January I wrote a post about how the movie tied to the hit Fox TV series 24 might not happen, do to lack of a working script and other problems.

I was thrilled to find out last week that Mark Bomback stepped up and wrote a draft of the script, which he is expected to turn in by the end of this year. All the film needs is a director and it will be ready to start shooting in the spring.

Click here to read the article from Bleeding Cool.

I can’t sit here and write how excited I am that Kiefer Sutherland will be in the movie, because really, would they do a 24 movie without him? Not a chance.

I don’t know what the production timeframe for the movie will be, or if the release date will be any time soon (probably not), or if anyone but Kiefer will join the cast (hopefully), but who cares, I’m excited. And I hope to see a lot of our old friends coming back to join the cast. Come on folks, why not?

I’ll be glad to have 24 back if only for a few hours. A little adrenaline-fueled escape never hurt anyone.

 

Review of Run For Your Lives Zombie 5K and Obstacle Course

I love races of all kinds – triathlons, half marathons, 5Ks, etc. But I never thought that the hilliest, muddiest 5K I’d ever run in my life would also feature zombies chasing after me with vacant eyes and cheesy Halloween costumes. Alas, as of 9:45 am on October 22, I officially completed my first ever jaunt at the Run For Your Lives Zombie 5K and Obstacle Course.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words – the video above from G4′s Attack of the Show will give you the best indication of what went down.

Unfortunately I can’t really say that I “survived” the race…we’ll get to that.

The Run for Your Lives race, which takes place in numerous cities throughout the US, is produced by Reed Street Productions event services company and timed by Elite Race Management. I participated in the one held on October 22 at Ramblewood Campground in Darlington, MD.

The premise of the race is simple. Sort of. You pick your probable running speed (“Appetizer” for those who run an 8-minute mile or less, “Entrée” for 8-12-minute miles, and “Dessert” for anyone slower). When the gun goes off, you run like hell through a twisting, turning, hill-riddled, zombie-infested, muddy-as-hell campground trail course, encountering obstacles.

Before the race you’re provided with a flag football belt with three flags, and during the race it is the zombies’ job to take your flags. Lose all three flags, and you can still finish the race, however you’re technically dead and will be listed as a zombie in the overall standings.

Regardless of whether you end up a zombie or not at the end of the race, you’re soaking wet, covered in red dye, and caked with mud. But chances are excellent you’re laughing your ass off too, because it’s a lot of fun.

The Course – Challenging but Safe

The course was almost 100% trail running, and included some MASSIVE hills, both up and down. It was a muddy area, so caution had to be exercised when running over rocks or down hills, especially immediately after obstacles that featured water and left all of the participants dripping wet. At times, it was nearly impossible to gain traction with the ground due to the mud. I fell once on my ass, and it was awesome.

I’m a nervous nelly by nature, so I admire the race directors for really taking some risks with this course. During my wave (9:00am, the first of the day), the course appeared very safe, and was well-marked. For next year, I would add race marshals every ¼ mile or so with walkie-talkies, in case of emergency. If there were race marshals out on the course last week, they weren’t clearly identified and I didn’t see them.

In all though, I was pleased with the organization and safety on the course, at least during the wave I participated in.

The Obstacles

The obstacles, in this order, were:

1. Hay Bale Pyramid – as the name implies, you climb over a pile of hay bales. I fell on the way down the back side, lost my orientation, and in the process lost all three of my flags right out of the gate as zombies flew at me.
2. Terrible Tubes – crawl through muddy sewer-like pipes in the ground.
3. Cargo Net – reminiscent of childhood days, this 15-foot-high climb was a lot of fun.
4. Hay Bale Maze – not really hard to navigate, but LOADED with zombies in close quarters.
5. House o’ Horrors – a lame dark covered bridge with flashing lights and no zombies.
6. Water – this part was awesome, it was six feet of water for maybe forty feet across. Ice cold. Not hard for a swimmer like me, but definitely more challenging when the water is filled with people, the weight of clothes is dragging you down, the exit is up a slick mud-covered hill, and there are zombies waiting.
7. Massive Hill – just a MASSIVE hill, both downhill and then uphill.
8. Over/Under – jump over a hurdle, go under a hurdle. Repeat.
9. Wall – this reminded me of something out of Ninja Warrior. It was a 10-foot high wall, sandwich board style (meaning you climbed up the front and slid down the back) with narrow plywood steps up. I chose to opt out of this one because I’m afraid of heights, it was slick with mud, and there were two HUGE dudes on it right in front of me, meaning if they fell, I was toast. So yes, I chickened out. My name is not Paul Kasemir. No one has ever called me “’One-Try’ Frotein.”
10. Hanging Intestines – run through some gross latex hanging intestines.
11. Red Dye Vat – a three-foot pool of red liquid that you had to walk through, with military chicks screaming at you.
12. Fence – duck under the chain link fence and run to the end!

The End

When you reach the end, if you have one or more flags left, you are alive. If all your flags are gone, you are a zombie. I was a zombie.

Three of my friends and me finished with a time of anywhere between 45 – 47 minutes. We had one overachieving friend who did it in 30 minutes. All of us were listed as zombies.

Afterwards, the Natural Bohemian and Pabst Blue Ribbon flowed freely at the clearly hipster-influenced Apocalypse Party. Live bands played, they weren’t good, but we all had a good time hanging out and looking at the stray zombies who were walking around once their shifts ended.

What I Hated

The parking and traffic leading into the event were terrible. The field where we parked was muddy and someone had to push my car out of the mud on the way out. They also charged $10 for parking, despite the event costing $75+ to run per person. Really?

Additionally (I didn’t see this part myself) but by the end of the day the course got shut down and not everyone got to run.

I won’t belabor these points though, because the race directors (in an admirable move) sent this email out afterwards, admitting growing pains and promising to do better next year. I respect them for making the effort, not all race organizers do so. I just wish that instead of promising a $10 credit if you sign up for next year’s race by 11/1/2011 (to make up for the parking fee) that they would simply eliminate the parking fee next year.

Not Good for Spectators

This race has room to grow in the way it treats spectators, especially because in order to watch the race at all, you must purchase a $35 Apocalypse Pass. This pass entitles you to nothing other than to watch the race (if you can find a good place to watch) and purchase food and beer. For the $35 price tag, I expected spectator maps detailing prime locations to watch the race, and at least a modest buffet. Many races I’ve attended have served a small buffet that is built into the price.

The bottom line – spectators are your future race-runners. Treat them better.

Keep Your Social Media Promises

The race organizers promised to reveal some obstacles ahead of time on Twitter, Facebook, and other places, if you promised to “like” or “follow” Run For Your Lives. I didn’t see much on these social media platforms, despite liking and following. The best bet was to look at the main Web site, http://runforyourlives.com.

What I liked

1. The concept
2. The course
3. Course safety
4. Bag check
5. Lots of Porta-Potties
6. Place to hose off afterwards
7. After-party (even if I didn’t like the beer and bands, the venue and music festival atmosphere were good)

I Would Totally Do it Again

I had visions of chipped teeth, twisted ankles, and worse before running this race, but I “survived,” in the literal sense (which I guess is what really counts), and I would totally do it again.

I hope if the race directors see this post, they know that I think they did a great job. Shit happens and things never go perfectly on race day, for the racers or the directors. It’s just never going to happen. A perfect day in a race is right up there with the Holy Grail, lost city of Eldorado, and unicorns – if they exist, I sure as hell haven’t found them.

Directing and managing a race is not easy and can be a thankless job sometimes. Keep it up Run For Your Lives race directors, take some suggestions into consideration, and continue to make this event great.

I Met a Moogle, a Badass 8-Bit Painter (with Kefka Painting!), and the Exec Producer of Haven at NY Comic Con

I braved the crowd yesterday and went to my first NY Comic Con at the Javits Center in NYC out of sheer curiosity.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn it isn’t just about comics – they feature movies, video games, TV shows, etc. Basically it’s a geek fest.

Stephen King Delight

I was THRILLED to meet Sam Ernst, Executive Producer of the TV show Haven, which is loosely based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid (which I hated). I’ve avoided the show because I didn’t like the book, but Ernst got totally King-geeky with me for a few minutes and explained how the show is really not like the book at all, and went on to detail all of the King references embedded in the script. I was sold and am about to start watching on Netflix (how can I resist a reference to a little boy in a yellow slicker playing with a paper boat?).

Me with Sam Ernst (left) and Lucas Bryant, who plays Nathan Wournos on the show

I Met a Moogle

As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite video game is Final Fantasy III. Imagine my delight to meet a Moogle at Comic Con:

Unlike the messed-up Square Enix plush version of Mog, this life-size Moogle doesn't have Xs for eyes

Badass Artist Making 8-Bit Art

This guy, Adam Shub of Square Painter, does amazing 8-bit paintings of pretty much anything you want. I love this rendition of Final Fantasy III Kefka:

I’m going to commission a version of FF3 Celes performing a Doom spell on Cactrot. Other ideas are welcome!

What I Hated About Comic Con

1. Too many people – the place was jam-packed and the flow of traffic sucked.

2. Too many people farting – enough said.

Today I Learned How to Solder Hardware and Make a Model of Mega Man with a 3-D Printer – Courtesy of FUBAR Labs

Two weeks ago I attended my first meeting with Fair Use Building and Research (FUBAR) Labs (my post is here, their Web site is here).

Today, I attended my first actual workshop, where I learned how to solder and de-solder hardware.  Using a soldering iron was easy enough even for this fire-phobe, since there’s no spark or flame and it’s pretty easy to tell what part of the iron is hot and therefore necessary to avoid touching.  I made a small flashlight as my first project, with a kit provided by RadioShack.

Now that I know how to solder, I’m looking forward to working on my first Arduino project (learning Arduino was one of the reasons I started with the group in the first place).  I’m looking to buy this Arduino kit, the Arduino Duemilanove, we’ll see how it goes.

The coolest part of today’s session was getting to make a 3-D printed object in the shape of Mega Man (one of my favorite video game characters) using a MakerBot CupCake CNC 3-D printer.

MakerBot CupCake CNC can print all manner of things in 3-D

This is the Mega Man 3-D printout yielded from today’s session:

My Mega Man 3-D print

Next week is a beginniner Arduino class at FUBAR, should be a good time.  Really liking the group so far.

A Modest Proposal: Stop Sayin’ “Just Sayin’”

I just found this post from a girl who shares my dislike for the phrase “just sayin’.”

I hate the phrase “just sayin’” because it’s for wimps. It’s for people who feel the need to take the sting out of words, even though those words are their own, what they feel, and what they truly want to say.

Why write a post about this now, years after the phrase first rose to popularity? Simple – because people are still f*ckin’ saying it!! Repeatedly!!

If you have a problem being blunt or even direct, then either: 1) come up with a way to be honest in a manner that you don’t feel will hurt someone’s feelings or 2) keep your damn mouth shut.

But you can’t have it both ways. If you can’t stand by what you say and how you say it, then it might be time to reevaluate the what and/or how. Own your words.

(I know, you expect me to say “just sayin’” at the end of this post, as in “I’m just sayin’, stop sayin’ “just sayin’.”  I refuse to do so in a manner other than in jest).

McBitterson’s Tasteless Wares – a Maker Faire Find

At Maker Faire NYC last week one of my favorite parts was visiting the numerous arts and crafts booths. Yes, not everything at Maker Faire, or even in real life, is made of hardware!

The highlight of the arts and crafts section was a booth featuring Jenny Piette, the owner of McBitterson’s Tasteless Wares.  Jenny sells tasteless (and hysterical) greeting cards and tasteless plush items such as a stuffed tombstone and a stuffed axe with blood on it, among others.

I love this axe. Too bad there's no picture of the tombstone on the McBitterson's Web site

If you give a shit (I don’t), all items are hand-made individually with eco-friendly materials whenever possible (Jenny’s words).

When I met Jenny at Maker Faire and told her I love the name “McBitterson,” she simply replied, “it is what it is.”

McBitterson’s simultaneously makes me mad and gives me hope.  It makes me mad because I should have thought of it.  As a writer, I’m constantly trying to write major earth-shattering works of fiction, when I could have been like Jenny and realized that great writing can take the form of a tasteless greeting card.

McBitterson’s gives me hope because it made me realize that (much like my writing efforts) not everything has to be epic.  My ambition to start my own company doesn’t have to be a major deal that consumes my life and causes me to leave my existing job, go into debt, and do nothing else while I work tirelessly to make it successful.  I’d be happy to try something like this chick’s very simple, yet very intelligent and awesome, company that purveys tasteless and funny wares.

It was worth the drive to Maker Faire just to learn about McBitterson’s.

FUBAR Labs (Fair Use Building and Research) – a Maker Faire Find

This week is Maker Faire recap week, and this post is the second in a series of Maker Faire posts

I’ve been a group fitness aficionado for more than 10 years, and I barely remember the first time I set foot in a fitness class.  I don’t recall being terrified, but I’m sure I wasn’t at my most confident.  Confidence (like I tell all my members now that I’m a fitness instructor) comes with repetition, practice, and continuing to get your ass in class.

I admit my patience has deteriorated over the years for those who are “afraid” to come to a group fitness class.  Suck it up and try. We were all new once, and the joy of life is putting yourself out there because you never know what will happen.

All my dismissive thoughts went out of my head this evening as I walked in, abjectly TERRIFIED, to my first FUBAR meeting.  Fair Use Building and Research (FUBAR) Labs is a Nonprofit Corporation that provides a location where people with common interests, usually in computers, technology, science, and crafts can meet and collaborate (their words).  They were at Maker Faire this past Sunday – although we didn’t see them at the event, The Geek Whisperer read through the event map and realized they were local to us.

I was nervous tonight because I knew everyone would know a lot about computers, and I don’t have a clue (just an interest).  The Geek Whisperer has a wealth of experience and knowledge in terms of hardware and software, and I figured he would fit in better than me.  So I was happy to find out that FUBAR seems to be a non-elitist, educational community filled with nice people that just want to share their interests in geeky stuff.

I was stoked to learn that FUBAR offers many classes, like Soldering Sundays, Arduino classes, 3-D printing classes, and more.  I’m interested in all this stuff and the idea of being able to take a low-cost class practically in my backyard is unexpected and amazing.  I also like that FUBAR assigns you a sponsor when you join, and that person is available to help you learn or, for the experienced, to provide advice and ideas on your projects.

So yes, I took out a FUBAR membership tonight and got the T-shirt. I will attend a Soldering Sunday and hopefully learn about Arduino and 3-D printing too.

A shout out to this seemingly cool group.

PS next time I won’t walk In quite so terrified.  Repetition, practice, and getting my ass back there are the keys.

Maker Faire NYC – September 17, 2011

Yesterday The Geek Whisperer took me to Maker Faire NYC in Queens, NY.  The drive out there and back was incredibly shitty, but MAN, what an awesome day.

Maker Faire is a two-day event dedicated literally to people who “make stuff.” Anything is welcomed, and anything goes, only criteria is you have to make it yourself.  People come from all over the world, literally, to show off their impressive (and often insane) creations.

We were at Maker Faire for more than seven hours and it would be impossible to sum up in one post, so I’ve decided to break the exhibits down into groups and write about them in a series of posts.

Exhibit Category # 1: Oversized Insanity

There were several oversized exhibits at Maker Faire that are worth mentioning, and the first one I saw upon arrival was Mark Perez’ Life Size Mousetrap.  This life-size version of the childhood favorite game Mousetrap is a rickety, clacketty, Rube Goldberg-ian delight, using lots of wood, bowling balls, and even a car (a slight deviation from the old “turn the crank and snap the plank” board game).

I love that they included the bath tub, just like the original

I can’t do true justice to the Life Size Mousetrap as it was in person, which included a fairly lengthy upfront show with numerous actors, so check the video out here. When we saw it at Maker Faire, the bowling ball went just as slowly down the blue chute, and the diving man also didn’t work so someone had to run in and intervene.

All in all though, pretty frickin’ cool. I mean, someone actually made this thing from scratch.  And I love Rube Goldberg stuff.

Gon KiRin Dragon

Another example in the “I can’t believe someone made this” category is the Gon KiRin Dragon, made by Ryan C. Doyle and Teddy Lo.  As their Facebook page states, the dragon is “64 x 26 feet of fire breathing superbright couch covered boom boom whatthefuck steel hydraulic goodness.”  And that about sums up this monolith of delightful insanity, so no more words, here’s a picture:

Sashimi Tabernacle Choir

Probably my favorite in this category was the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir, a fish and crustacean-covered car that sings, dances, and truly sums up silliness on wheels.

Enough said

This car features tons of those annoying singing fish, performing various songs, with a conductor and The Three Basses: Jose Carperas, Placido Dolphingo and the incomparable Luciano Ichthyology.  At the Maker Faire, they sang and danced to the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah (every time the chorus came up, the lobsters would stand proudly, and then sit back down to let the fish finish up).

I loved this car because I love singing fish. I wanted to buy one for my dad as a kid, and I remember my mother going “nooooooooooooooo.” Always fun to freak out your mom.

Why Maker Faire?

When the creators of Maker Faire started it up 12 years ago, everyone said they were crazy and that “no one would come, because no one would like it.”  12 years later, it’s going stronger than ever, as evidenced by the huge lines for food yesterday.

What I liked was the simplicity of a lot of the makers and vendors yesterday.  They brought their creations, no more and no less, just to share them with the world (and maybe make a modest buck).  Most of the stuff was pretty niche and not necessarily things that are considered “useful,” so I really admired the makers for persisting in doing what they do, just because they felt the calling to make it.

So yes, I will be returning to Maker Faire next year.  Look for more posts on other favorite Maker Faire stuff this week.

 

Mousetrap picture is here.

Gon KiRin Dragon picture is here.

Sashimi Tabernacle Choir picture is here.

“Just Keep Doing What You’re Doing” – Best Advice I’ve Heard in a While

I was having a chat with a friend yesterday who is anticipating some less-than-good news in the near future. I asked her how she was coping and she said she was following the best advice she’d ever been given – just keep doing what you’re doing.

I like this advice a lot because it infuses some control into a situation where control is in short supply. We have no say in how external events play out. But we can continue to make ourselves, and our situations, the best we can.

Sometimes external events suck. The job doesnt come through, the person you like doesn’t give shit one about you, or the world around you doesn’t look so hot.

But isn’t that all the more reason to keep focusing on ourselevs and the things that are most important to us? To paraphrase the famous Churchill quote, “if you are anticipating going through hell, keep going.”

Sometimes there’s just no other choice than to keep doing what you’re doing.  And that is why the best advice ever given to my friend is now some of the best advice ever given to me.

Why I Haven’t Outgrown Triathlon

This summer is the first in the past four summers where I didn’t have several triathlons under my belt by the end of August.  Last summer I was even in Olympic triathlon shape. By the end of this August, the number of 2011 triathlons I’d participated in was a nice round figure – zero.

I had a stress fracture on my left tibia in April, and spent several weeks in a boot.  When the boot came off, it was physical therapy, and even when that was done, it didn’t feel right. By the time it did feel ok enough to do anything, I’d lost a lot of confidence in moving freely without reinjuring, so I took it easy.

When the beginning of August rolled around though, I was forced to realize that I’d been out of the boot for more than two months, out of PT for more than one month, and that I hadn’t even kept up on the lower impact parts of triathlon (swimming and biking). In fact, I’d done pretty much no training, with the exception of a few bike rides here and there.

With the leg excuse wearing thin and the summer wearing even thinner, I had to ask myself a tough question:

Had I outgrown doing triathlons?

I don’t believe in the excuse of “I don’t have time,” because there’s always time – if you are alive, you inherently “have time.”  When someone tells me they don’t have time, it simply means that the activity in question is not a priority for them.

So even though I could have concocted plenty of “good reasons” that I “didn’t have time” for triathlon training this summer (I moved, my job was demanding, my weekends were booked up, etc.), these were all just petty excuses to shield me from the realization that for whatever reason, triathlon had not been high on the list this summer.

The prospect that triathlon was simply a phase from which I was moving on made me sad, because it had been a big part of my life (and a HUGE priority) for the past three years.  It had brought me a lot of happiness.  I wasn’t ready to let go quite so willingly, so this past Saturday, I forced myself out of bed at 5:30am to participate in the DQ Triathlon at Marlton Lakes in Marlton, NJ (race review to come).

Packing up the car and driving to the race site was like putting on a pair of gloves that have been hidden in the back of the closet, but still fit so perfectly on your hands. The difference though is that I “put on the gloves” a lot quicker this time – where I used to spend days preparing and packing, this time I threw some crap in a garbage bag, got my bike, and went.

Racking my bike and setting up my transition area went smoothly, and I even saw a few people I knew, which was great.  But the true realization that I was infinitely happy to be back in the game didn’t come until it was time to walk to the swim start.

At Marlton Lakes you have to walk about ¼ – ½ mile across a rocky path to get to the swim start, and when the announcer said it was time to go, the nearly 500 participants started walking. I’d had a last-minute snafu, so I was one of the last people to start walking over.

When I looked up for the first time from futzing with my wetsuit and goggles, it was an awesome site – 500 people, practically in single file, walking on a narrow lakeside path at sunrise, like pilgrims trekking to a shot at temporary greatness.

Likely most of them knew the outcome of the day wouldn’t change anything – there would still be violence in the world, the economic crisis wouldn’t go anywhere, and Michael Bay would continue making shitty movies with cool special effects.

But no one cared, and neither did I.  The day belonged simultaneously to all of us and each of us.

It was then that I remembered the 1^st Fundamental Truth of triathlon – no one gets up at 5am to race if they don’t love life.

With rare exception, the people at triathlons are doers. They make things happen. They recognize that life is short, we’re not promised tomorrow, and that we might as well get to work while we’re healthy and the going’s good. Don’t tell a triathlete that a single race doesn’t count – every minute counts.

With rare exception, the people at triathlons take accountability for the good and the bad. I’ve never heard a triathlete blame others for a bad performance, and I’ve only heard the scattered few blame the weather conditions or other factors. Most of the time, it’s “I had a bad day, but I’ll train harder and do better next time.”  And most of the time, they do train harder and get better.

With rare exception, the people at triathlons respect each other. Sure there’s the occasional douche, the girl that hogs the transition rack, or the morons that don’t stay to the right on the bike course. But I’ve found that 9 times out of 10, a violation at a race comes from ignorance of rules and protocol, not from malice. Just watch any triathlon for five minutes (especially on the run course) and you’ll see complete strangers woo-hooing and high-fiving each other, making it fun, being supportive.

So when the race was run and the post-race bagels and beer consumed this past Saturday, as I stood in a circle with six other very like-minded friends who had come out that morning, I remembered why triathlon had been such a big part of my life for the past three summers – it just feels good. The adrenaline rush is just an added bonus.

Even though I only have two more 2011 triathlons planned before my bike officially goes on the indoor trainer for the winter, I will consider this my most successful season because I now know how it feels to love what you do, leave it, and find love all over again.

We live in a world of whiners, criers, self-absorbed pricks and “I don’t have time”-ers. How nice to have an escape from those tiresome folks for even a few hours, even if it means I have to get up at 5am on a weekend, spend $80 on an entry fee, and drive an hour to the race site. One could do worse than be a lover of life.

And that is why I haven’t outgrown triathlon.